SISAK, May (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said on Thursday evening at the celebration marking International Labour Day in Sisak that Croatia, Albania, Macedonia and the United States would signed the Adriatic Charter
in Tirana on Friday.
SISAK, May (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula said on
Thursday evening at the celebration marking International Labour
Day in Sisak that Croatia, Albania, Macedonia and the United States
would signed the Adriatic Charter in Tirana on Friday. #L#
The charter envisages the U.S. support to the three countries and
their cooperation in meeting conditions for joining NATO. The
foreign minister of the said countries will sign the charter in
Albania's capital at the proposal of the United States.
After the signing, the four countries are obliged to accelerate
efforts invested in joining NATO, Picula said.
He said that claims of a weekly that "the U.S. has once again
cancelled the signing of the Adriatic Charter and that it is
punishing Croatia" were completely unfounded.
Commenting on a visa problem with Canada, the minister said
officials were doing everything to remove such obstacles that a
large number of particularly male Croatian citizens were facing
while trying to travel to Canada.
"We must find a way to convince Canada to change or completely
revoke the D-20 form which includes questions on the participation
in the Homeland War and political orientation. Naturally, we don't
like this because all Croatian citizens are suspects from the
start, and this is hardly acceptable for us," Picula said. He
reminded that in 1996, Croatia cancelled the visa regime for
Canadian citizens on its own, while Canada did nothing to alleviate
the visa regime for Croatian citizens.
"Should Canada fail to show enough progress, we can always
introduce the visa regime, if not for all Canadian citizens than for
those with diplomatic or official passports," Picula said. He
expressed hope that this would not take place, but that talks on the
issue would be conducted.
Asked whether he signed the D-20 form for the Canadian visa, which
parliament president Zlatko Tomcic declined to do, Picula said that
he was in Canada, but that he also participated in the Homeland War
from day one and that this was all he can say about that issue.
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